Basic Pee Wee Football Plays

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STEVE SILVERMAN Last Updated: Aug 22, 2015

Steve Silverman

Steve Silverman is an award-winning writer, covering sports since 1980. Silverman authored The Minnesota Vikings: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Who's Better, Who's Best in Football -- The Top 60 Players of All-Time, among others, and placed in the Pro Football Writers of America awards three times. Silverman holds a Master of Science in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism.

Pee wee football serves as a kid's introduction to the organized version of the sport. When a kid signs up for pee wee football, youth football or Pop Warner, he needs to know that he will be committed to practice at least four days per week and play a game once per week. At practice, the player will be taught how to run the basic plays of the sport.

Hand Off

This is one of the most basic plays in youth football. The quarterback lines up behind center and takes the snap. As he drops back, he will have the ball in his left hand as he gets ready to hand the ball to the running back. The running back is cutting right and that allows the quarterback to stick the ball in the running back's midsection. As this is happening, the right tackle is blocking the defensive end to the inside of the field and the tight end is blocking the outside linebacker to the outside. The running back runs through the hole created by those blocks. This play is simple, but it requires timing, strength, quickness and coordination.

No Fumbling

This is one of the most frequent plays used in pee wee football. It does not require the quarterback to hand the ball off to anyone, cutting down on the likelihood of a fumble. The quarterback takes the snap from center and immediately runs right or left behind his blockers. He runs as fast as he can toward either sideline and when he sees that no tacklers can reach him, he turns upfield and runs as far and fast as he can. This is a simple play that puts much of the responsibility on the quarterback. If he is a top athlete, he has a great chance to outrun the defense and create a big play.

The Passing Game

The passing game is simplified at the pee wee level. Coaches may not try to pass the ball until the team has played at least two games and he can see that players understand the basics of pass blocking. On the tight end pass, the quarterback drops back five steps after taking the snap. The offensive line blocks to keep the defensive linemen from getting near the quarterback. The tight end runs 7-to-10 yards from the line of scrimmage and turns around to face the quarterback. The quarterback throws the ball to the tight end's midsection. The receiver secures the ball and runs for the goal line.

Risky Business

This play is designed to get the defense running to one side of the field and have the play go to the other side. On the snap of the ball, the quarterback runs to his right as if he is running a quarterback sweep. However, as he gets outside the right tackle, the wide receiver on the right side runs toward the quarterback and secures a handoff. He runs at top speed to his left and cuts upfield as soon as he sees an opening. This play will often result in a big gainer if the offense has been running the sweep with some degree of frequency. The defense will think the play is going right and by the time it realizes the play is going the opposite way, it is too late. This play is risky, because it can be difficult for the receiver to take a handoff while both he and the quarterback are running at top speed in opposite directions.